In venues such as museums, nightclubs, and fairs, patrons must perform or satisfy certain requirements before being granted entrance, such as paying an entrance fee or verifying their age. If the patron performs the necessary tasks and satisfies these requirements, a venue employee will mark the patron's hand, typically with a pen, marker or stamp to indicate that the patron is an authorized entrant.
Among other things, marking a patron's hand as described allows the patron to leave the venue and return by simply displaying the marking indicating that s/he is an authorized entrant instead of having to demonstrate that s/he has performed the entrance tasks or requirements. However, this marking technique has certain limitations.
Using this conventional marking technique, a venue must employ someone to mark each patron's hand as s/he enters or exits the venue. Often, there is only one venue employee present to perform hand markings. Consequently, during peak business or visiting hours, large lines of patrons can form as they wait to have their hands marked. Further, if the venue employee responsible for marking patrons' hands is stationed at the entrance of the venue, a large line of patrons could form outside and deter other possible patrons from visiting the venue. If the venue employee is stationed at the exit of the venue, a large line of patrons could form inside making it uncomfortable for everyone inside the venue. Furthermore, a patron may choose to leave the venue and not return in order to avoid the crowd of patrons waiting to have their hands marked.
Thus, there is a need for a system and method that will allow a venue to quickly mark a patron's hand upon entering or exiting the venue so that large crowds can be effectively and efficiently processed without detrimentally affecting the visitor experience.